I can't put a name to a company that produces a 3 phase converter that would, for example take 3 standard 16amp inputs of arbitrary phase and combine them into a synchronised 3 phase supply, but technically it is possible, each phase would have to be converted to DC, the 3 DC source would need to be summed, then 3 inverters, synchronised at 120 degree would be need to supply the required outputs. That's if you independently connect each phase on the boat to a seperate 16amp socket, and you don't know the phase of each of the three 16amp supplies.

'This won't worry your electric kettle or microwave, but would be seriously expensive new for any three phase devices you may have, big electric motors for example, wouldn't spin', This won't worry your electric kettle or microwave, but would be seriously expensive new of any three phase devices you may have, big electric motors for example, wouldn't spin.Ĭlick to expand.No, a rotary or solid state single to 3 phase converter will power 3 phase devices. It might be possible to connect three different 16amp sockets to the 3 separate phases on your boat, by intercepting the wiring at the appropriate points, this might put all 3 of your circuits on the same phase, you'll need an experienced electrician to do this). This won't worry your electric kettle or microwave, but would be seriously expensive new for any three phase devices you may have, big electric motors for example, wouldn't spin. To generate a 3 phase supply from a single phase, you can either use a rotary converter, or rectify the AC to DC and the run three separate, synchronised (120 degrees apart) inverters to get back to 3 phases. You can't just parallel up three 16amp sockets and assume that they are all on the same phase. Someone will no doubt correct me on this point. But they might be connected so that adjacent sockets will be on different phases. On a typical pontoon, I'm guessing, that in most cases all the sockets will be on a single phase, different pontoons being on different phases so the marina as a whole is a balance load. If your boat is wired for three phase, it is likely to have 3 seperate AC circuits, designed so that the load is balanced between the phase. Hi, I'm not sure how much you know about 3 phase power, but some basic might help, each phase is 120 degrees out of phase with the other 2 phases, and the phase to phase voltage is 415 volts, phase to the centre (ground) is nominally around 230 to 240 volts. And no, I do not want to run the onboard generator out of respect for the other folks in the marina. Needless to say, I'll get a licensed electrician to install it, so this post is just for my background info and to have a reasonably educated conversation with the electrician.Īny advice or experience with this? Surely I'm not the only one with big power needs occasionally docking at berths with single phase supply only. I'd like to make the modification as simple as possible so that I don't have to rewire the whole system. Is it possible to get a phase converter that can combine 3 x 16a single-phase inputs into one 16a 3-phase output? Space is not an issue, it's a big ship. How to solve this? Is it possible to take 3 separate single phase/220v cables from the shore and combine these into the ship's needed 3-phase power? I understand that I can get phase converters that convert single phase to 3-phase power, that would work except I need the 3 x 16a to power all systems onboard. Sometimes I dock where I can only get standard single phase/220v connections, and then I can't connect my shore power. It needs all this power to run all systems onboard. I have a 3-phase shore power connection to my ship.

3 phase converter to single phase